ILLINOIS STATE BEE-KEEJPERS' ASSOCIATION 



197 



that disease before it gets? to a stage 

 where we can smell it, we might as 

 well say we will not get any surplus 

 from that stock that season. We must 

 be able to discover that disease as 

 it appears in one or two cells, and get 

 right to work. I would recommend 

 that idea of having a yard two or 

 three miles from the regular yard to 

 treat this disease I think it would 

 pay everyone to move their bees for 

 treatment — remove them at least two 

 miles. 



Dr. Phillips — I would like to say a 

 word or two about the two maps that 

 are put up on the blackboard. About 

 a month ago I took the records of the 

 samples of disease which have been 

 received at the Bureau of Entomology 

 from all over the United States, and 

 charted them on maps. I do not claim 

 by any means this represents the dis- 

 tribution of the two diseases in the 

 United iStates; it simply shows where 

 we have found it; and I would be very 

 glad to get reports from persons here 

 as to other localities in which the dis- 

 ease exists. The solid red colored 

 Counties are those from which we 

 have had samiples, and those surround- 

 ed by a red border are those from 

 which we have reports of samples. 

 We do not take the report even from 

 the best men in the United States as 

 a positive thing until we get a sam- 

 ple. We would be very glad to know 

 where to look for the disease in the 

 future, in making this map complete. 



Eh-. Bohrer — From the external ap- 

 pearance you can't always tell the 

 disease. This last spring I had a 

 powerful colony in one of those Jumbo 

 ten frame hives, and they had gone 

 to work in the super and reached the 

 capping stage, and all at once they 

 ceased while other bees were ener- 

 getically at work in bringing in honey. 

 I saw them listlessly crawling about 

 the entrance of the hive. I at once 

 opened it and I found foul brood. 

 When in the height of the honey flow 

 you find them lazy in their habits and 

 seeming to be cross, and so on, you 

 may rest assured that there is some- 

 thing wrong and you must look for it 

 immediately. 



Mr. Syverud — I would be pleased to 

 have someone describe the European 

 foul brood. 



Dr. Phillips — After Mr. France's de- 

 scription of the American, perhaps I 

 can describe the European better by 



pointing out the difference between 

 the two. European foul brood attacks 

 the larvae at an earlier age than does 

 the American; the larvae are gener- 

 ally attacked while they are still curl- 

 ed around in the bottom of the cell, 

 and the characteristic thing is the 

 yellow color. The name "black brood" 

 is not a good name; it does not de- 

 scribe the disease at all. If any name 

 representing a color is to be given to 

 tliis disease, it should be "yellow." 

 We, however, have given it the name 

 of European foul brood. The larvae 

 turn yellow or somewhat grayish at 

 the time while they are still curled up 

 in the bottom of the cell before they 

 straighten out. The larvae are oc- 

 casionally attacked a little later and 

 they may even come to the place 

 where they, are sealed, but a large ma- 

 jority of the brood is attacked before 

 sealing, whereas in American foul 

 brood the majority of it is attacked 

 after sealing. There is no ropiness 

 to amount to anything, and no odor 

 such as we have in the American. 

 There is sometimes a little sour odor 

 connected with this brood, but it can- 

 not be accepted as anything typical. 

 The curled up position of the diseased 

 larvae, and the yellow color I would 

 take to be the chief characteristics 

 of this disease. You can tell it is not 

 pickled or chilled brood by the way 

 in which it spreads in the colony. It 

 simply goes through a colony like a 

 plague. It spreads in a colony and in 

 an apiary more rapidly than American 

 foul brood. Another characteristic 

 should be mentioned, and that is, in 

 the fall of the year it often disappears 

 of its own accord. That does not mean 

 the disease is cured. While sometimes 

 it will disappear and not re-appear, it 

 generally comes back again. 



Dr. Bohrer — Does not American foul 

 brood do that sometimes? 



Dr. Phillips — I only heard of but one 

 or two cases where it did. When the 

 American dries down it forms a scale, 

 which Mr. France described. The scale 

 adheres tightly to the side wall. In 

 the European it remains loose, and a 

 knife-blade run under it will lift the 

 scale right up. The scale in European 

 foul brood is not smooth and flat as 

 it is in the American; it is rough as 

 a rule. 



Dr. Bohrer — I have thought a great 

 deal about the matter of legislation, 

 and I have thought a national law 



